In the wake of a controversial Bud Light advertisement featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, another beer giant, Miller Lite, seems to follow what critics deem a misguided attempt to align with the so-called "woke" culture.
Their recent commercial, which addressed a feminist perspective on the sexualization of women in beer advertising, has disappeared from the brand's social media accounts following a surge of online backlash, according to the New York Post.
Titled "Bad $#!T to Good $#!T," the advertisement was initially launched on March 7 to commemorate Women's History Month. The ad spotlighted various women pledging to dismantle the brand's purported history of objectifying women to boost beer sales. However, two months post-launch, the controversial commercial has seemingly been deleted from the company's Twitter and TikTok profiles.
The New York Post reported that the video was still available on Miller Lite's Instagram platform at the time of their analysis, but it has since been removed. In response to the growing controversy, Molson Coors, a spokesperson for Miller Lite, defended the commercial.
"This video was about worm poop and saying women shouldn't be forced to mud wrestle to sell beer. Neither of these things should be remotely controversial and we hope beer drinkers can appreciate the humor (and ridiculousness) of this video from back in March," stated Coors.
The ad began to gain traction this Monday, thanks to a tweet by Mythinformed, a Twitter user. The post, which suggested that Miller Lite is out of touch with its audience, has amassed over 3 million views.
The advertisement features comedian and actress Ilana Glazer, who starts by saying that "women were among the very first to brew beer ever." She then criticizes the industry, saying, "Centuries later, how did the industry pay homage to the founding mothers of beer? They put us in bikinis. Wow." Glazer continues to express a commitment to "clean up not just their sh-t, but the whole beer industry's sh-t," and announces a donation by Miller Lite to support female brewers.
The backlash against the ad is palpable. Citizen Free Press accused Miller Lite of joining the "woke cult" on Twitter. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk urged his followers to take action against the brand, tweeting, "Miller Lite is owned by Coors. You know what to do." A social media influencer, Ian Miles Cheong, criticized the ad for using outdated feminist tropes.
This controversy follows a recent marketing misstep by Bud Light, who collaborated with Dylan Mulvaney to create a special can celebrating Mulvaney's "365 Days of Girlhood." The partnership sparked a mass boycott, leading to a significant drop in sales. According to Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data, U.S. retail sales of Bud Light have plummeted 23.4 percent year on year during the week of April 29.
While no public calls to boycott Miller Lite have surfaced, the company's decision to erase the controversial ad from its social media platforms speaks volumes. Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, is engaged in damage control to salvage its reputation. As the beer industry grapples with these marketing debacles, it remains to be seen how these brands will balance cultural relevance and customer preferences in their future advertising efforts.
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